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American Morning

New Mexico Teen Could Spend Rest of Life Behind Bars After Murder Conviction; Sleeping Pill Concerns

Aired February 08, 2006 - 09:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: A New Mexico teen could spend the rest of his life behind bars after his murder conviction last night. The triple murder made headlines a couple of years ago when the bodies were found on a ranch owned by ABC newsman Sam Donaldson. But the defense says the killings were brought on by prolonged abuse.
CNN's Gary Tuchman with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many outsiders thought they lived an idyllic life, a husband and wife, her 13-year-old daughter, his 14-year-old son, all living on a ranch in New Mexico.

But, then, on a summer day in 2004, husband, wife and daughter were found shot to death and buried in a manure pile. The gunman was the son, Cody Posey, who confessed on a police tape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where was she when you shot her? (INAUDIBLE)

CODY POSEY, DEFENDANT: On the couch.

TUCHMAN: But has now told a jury he snapped after years of physical, mental and sexual abuse.

POSEY: I have been hit with various things, closed fists, open hands, backhands, flyswatters, rods off of -- of shades. I have been hit with boards, ropes. I have been hit with various things in the face.

TUCHMAN: Posey's defense attorney says he was constantly in fear for his life. Prosecutors disagree.

SANDRA GRISHAM, PROSECUTOR: Cody Posey wants to sell you on an idea that if, he was hit, you must acquit. That is not the law.

TUCHMAN: Cody's father, Paul, was the manager of the ranch...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you state your name, please, sir.

SAM DONALDSON, ABC NEWS: My name is Sam Donaldson.

TUCHMAN: ... that is owned by TV newsman Sam Donaldson, who testified about the horrible discovery when arriving at his ranch. DONALDSON: I saw a large reddish, dried swathe, which I identified clearly as blood. I had seen -- covered the war in Vietnam. I saw a lot of it there.

TUCHMAN: While prosecutors contend the now 16-year-old Posey is just a selfish murderer...

GRISHAM: Cody Posey acted as judge, jury and executioner.

TUCHMAN: ... Posey says he was brutalized by his father, Paul, and his stepmother, Tryone.

POSEY: Tryone pulled down the covers, and she was laying there completely naked. My dad striked up the torch and told me that I was going to have sex with Tryone. I -- I refused to do it, told him I wasn't going to do it. And as -- as I was telling him I wasn't going to do it, he was heating up this rod. It doesn't take that long to get it pretty hot. He walked up to me and burned me.

TUCHMAN: The sordid nature of the allegations are painful to Tryone's mother and father.

PAT BASHAM, FATHER OF TRYONE POSEY: It sounds like that something that a 14-year-old would imagine that a sexual encounter would be. That had nothing to do with the character of -- of my daughter and son-in-law.

TUCHMAN: But Cody's aunt on the other side of the family supports her nephew...

CORLISS CLEESE, AUNT OF CODY POSEY: My heart's broke.

TUCHMAN: ... saying the killings were in self-defense.

CLEESE: I have seen him with rope burns on his neck. I have seen him with bruises and marks all over him.

TUCHMAN: Verlin Posey is the brother of the dead father.

(on camera): How much do you miss him?

VERLIN POSEY, BROTHER OF PAUL POSEY: A lot. A lot.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): So, how tough of a disciplinarian was his brother?

POSEY: Well, there's no doubt in my mind he didn't spank get a spanking with a belt. And there's not a doubt in my mind that, if Cody turned around and swung on my brother, that he got swung on back.

TUCHMAN: It is now very apparent, life was not idyllic in the Posey household.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: After being convicted of first-degree murder, Cody Posey faces at least 30 years in prison. It may be his whole life behind bars. Sentencing will take place some time next month. We'll keep you posted on that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: A lot of Americans have a lot of trouble sleeping. Actually, an estimated 50 million to 70 million people have hard time, more than ever before, they're turning to prescription sleep drugs for help. But is that really the best long-term cure?

Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It seems that Colette Marietta is always on the move. A job that takes her on the road and two kids needing constant attention at home. By the end of the day she is tired -- so incredibly tired. Yet she can't get to sleep.

COLETTE MARIETTA, USES SLEEPING PILLS: Although my body's exhausted, I lay in bed and just millions of thoughts are going through my head. Did I sign the permission slip? Did I do this? Did I do that? Did I finish something for work?

GUPTA: She tried some basic things -- eliminating caffeine, trying warm tea and a bath before bed. But nothing worked as well as a little pill, Ambien. When the doctor handed her a prescription for a sleeping pill, it was one of 42 million that were written last year. That's a 60 percent increase since 2000. And they are expensive -- about $11/pill, usually covered by insurance.

Annual sales of prescription sleep medicine now top $2 billion.

MARIETTA: It just totally relaxes me and, you know, and I just am out like that. It's not an issue.

GUPTA: Not an issue, because it works for Colette. But could she and her doctors be ignoring the root cause of her insomnia? Anxiety, depression or a chronic illness such as sleep apnea?

Harvard psychologist Gregg Jacobs says drugs are not a long-term fix for insomnia.

GREGG JACOBS, PSYCHOLOGIST, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Sleeping pills don't change those behaviors. So they may work in the short run, but over a period of time, the brain kind of gets accustomed to them, they don't work as well.

GUPTA: Instead, Jabobs advocates something called cognitive behavior therapy, CBT -- like establishing a regular bed time; not exercising, watching TV or using the computer before bed; and making a list of things to do before the lights go out.

Jacobs has developed an online version at CBTforINSOMNIA.com, offering advice and feedback for a monthly fee.

JACOBS: Cognitive behavior therapy is actually more effective in the long run.

GUPTA: That's not a message you'll hear on the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of television ads.

ANNOUNCER: This great night sleep, brought to you by Lunesta.

GUPTA: Lunesta's maker, Sepracor, declined to comment for this story.

A spokeswoman for Sanofi Aventis, the maker of Ambien, said, "When taken as prescribed, Ambien is a safe and effective treatment for insomnia."

Colette doesn't want to stay on the pills forever. Worried about side effects, such as fuzzy-headedness and dependence.

MARIETTA: I do worry long-term, but I just keep hoping, too.

GUPTA: Hoping her hectic life will slow down, to get a good night's sleep.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And the best advice we can give you, if you trouble sleeping, see your doctor first and some questions before asking for a sleeping pill prescription -- Miles.

Some tape feeding out of the White House right now. The president meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan. This happened just moments ago. Let's listen as the tape rolls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN: Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a religion of peace, tolerance, moderation. And we have to continue to ask ourselves, "What type of world do we want for our children?"

I too often hear the word used as "tolerance," and "tolerance" is such an awful word. If we are going to strive to move forward in the future, the word that we should be talking about is "acceptance." We need to accept our common humanity and our common values.

And I hope that lessons can be learned from this regretful issue, and we can move forward as humanity and truly try to strive together as friends and as neighbors to bring a better world (INAUDIBLE).

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, Your Majesty.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: The president of the United States, along with King Abdullah, in the Oval Office, with the so-called tight pool there. We'll get you some more excerpts of that conversation in just a little bit.

In the meantime, let's check in with our vice chairman of business news...

VERJEE: Is that what they call him?

O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer. We just gave him a promotion.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Self appointed perhaps.

VERJEE: So we now have an arm of the ministry of virtue and vice for AMERICAN MORNING.

SERWER: I'll take vice. Thank you.

The second richest man in the United States, you guys, Warren Buffett, He has a new role. He's gone Hollywood, sort of. Stay tuned. We'll tell you all about it, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is here with cartoon news.

SERWER: I am. I have cartoon news.

VERJEE: Oh, yes. On to the serious and important cartoon news.

SERWER: Always.

We're going to talk about what's going on on Wall Street first. First of all, you guys, let's go down to the Big Board. We're up 25 points, a bit of a surprise. Futures were weaker earlier this morning, but we seem to be perking up nicely. The price of oil weaker yesterday. That may be helping out stocks, down to $63 a barrel. Troubles in Iran seem to be at least not getting any worse I guess is the best way to put it at this point.

A couple stocks on the move, Time-Warner. Carl Icahn and his cohorts agitating for change. They released a plan yesterday. There is Carl! Quick Carl. He's always got a lot to say. The stock was down one percent yesterday. It's down a third of a percent today, kind of an indictment of Icahn and his plan. In other words, they don't think it's going to do anything.

O'BRIEN: If he does to Time-Warner what he did to the airlines.

SERWER: Kablooey.

O'BRIEN: Kablooey. Kablooey it is, right?

SERWER: Well, could be. Although he did some things at RJR to be fair to him. That was okay there.

Pfizer selling its over-the-counter drug business, which includes Visine, Listerine, Benadryl, and that stock is up three percent, which is good stuff there.

Now as far as cartoon news goes, we're talking about Warren Buffett, and he's going to be playing himself in an animated cartoon which, I guess is redundant, for children, coming out this fall.

VERJEE: Definitely redundant.

SERWER: Yes, it is, isn't it? I've got to watch those vice chairman.

This is a cartoon series for children coming out this fall.

O'BRIEN: The kids are clamoring for Warren.

SERWER: It's about money, and how to save money and not spend money. I don't know. You know, Buffet has done cartoons before. He was the voice-over of James Madison in an animated feature two years ago called "Liberty Kids." You remember this thing?

O'BRIEN: Walter Cronkite was in there as well

SERWER: ... was Benjamin Franklin.

Dustin Hoffman, Benedict Arnold, and of course Arnold Schwarzenegger was Baron Von Steuben (ph).

O'BRIEN: Actually a great series, and my kids watched that series.

SERWER: They did watch it? I can't believe you know this.

O'BRIEN: And they learned more about the Revolutionary War watching that series. It was actually an excellent series. I didn't know Warren was involved.

SERWER: He was.

VERJEE: Thank you, vice chairman.

SERWER: Thank you, Contessa.

VERJEE: Always a pleasure.

CNN LIVE TODAY is coming up next with Daryn Kagan.

Hi, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Zain. Good morning.

Straight ahead, chances are that you or your kids have an iPod. With the Grammys on tonight, we're going to take a closer look at boom in downloading music and how it's revolutionizing the way we buy and listen to our favorite songs.

Also, with Valentine's Day coming up, has Cupid visited your office cubicle? We have a must-see top five tips on managing an office romance.

And you young, hot thing, Zain, basically to wrap it up, don't. Don't go fishing off the company pier is my basic advice to you.

VERJEE: OK. Daryn, thank you. Thanks, darling.

Coming up, you don't have to spend a million bucks to look like it. What's behind the cheap chic trend in fashion. Try saying cheap chic really quickly.

SERWER: I won't even try it.

VERJEE: Cheap chic, our series on New York City's Fashion Week. That's next here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Armani has AX, Calvin Klein has CK. We're talk about mid-level lines of clothing, clothes that are essentially designed to combine high fashion with lower prices.

AMERICAN MORNING's Alino Cho continues to look at fashion week with designers behind this trend. She joins us live from Bryant Park, the home of Fashion Week here in New York City.

Alina, good morning.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, good morning to you. We're backstage at the Michael Kors show. Soon you will see 72 new looks come down the runway, both men and women. Each will cost thousands of dollars. These are beautiful clothes, but not everyone can afford them. That is why designers are reaching out, not just to Madison Avenue, but to middle America, too.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): Ralph Lauren has done it. So has Donna Karan and Michael Kors. More and more, top-notch designers are branching out, creating lower-priced lines.

Carolina Herrera has joined the club.

CAROLINA HERRERA, FASHION DESIGNER: Why not? It's an ideal thing to have another line that is less expensive.

CHO: Herrera's second or complementary line, as she likes to call it, is CH. It's sold only at CH stores like this one in Manhasset, New York.

HERRERA: It's a very cozy place, you see?

CHO: Here, in addition to clothes for women, there's a men's line and a whole array of accessories. Picture frames, tennis outfits, even items for the dog. And the best part may be the cost. CH's prices start at just under $100. A Herrera dress straight from the runway can cost thousands.

(on camera): What's in it for designer? Why do this?

MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, FASHION CRITIC: Why do this? The bucks! The big bucks!

CHO (voice-over): Mary Alice Stephenson, contributing editor for "Bazaar" magazine, calls secondary lines a huge trend.

STEPHENSON: Masstige cool. Before, never it would be luxury designers, prestige, prestige. Now they want masstige. They want to bring their world of luxury to the masses.

CHO: Designer Stella McCartney has a lower-price line for H&M, so popular it sold out. Isaac Mizrahi led his name to a clothing and accessories line for Target. He also has a couture collection sold at Bergdorf Goodman. Take this feathered jacket, price tag, $16,500.

(on camera): What is that getting you here?

STEPHENSON: Well, you know, with Isaac, it gets you a little moment of the Isaac Mizrahi high-end world. But you also know that he's designing for Target. So here's $16,000. You go to Target? $9.99. And you wear them together. And it's OK.

HERRERA: This is the spring collection.

CHO (voice-over): Herrera calls CH classic, with a modern twist.

(on camera): Does this allow more women to feel great wearing Carolina Herrera. Is that the idea?

HERRERA: I think so. Because sometimes I go around and I see a woman who say I can't bought your clothes, but I went to CH and bought this scarf.

CHO: Beautiful, well-tailored clothing at a fraction of the cost.

HERRERA: If they fit well they come back, and back and back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Now Herrera and others admit that there are differences between the primary and secondary lines. The cut may be different, the fabric may be different. But the feeling, as they say in the business, Zain, is the same.

VERJEE: Alino Cho, doing a marvelous job of covering Fashion Week for us. Thanks, Alina.

Tonight, the big night for the music biz. And tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to be live from Los Angeles with the highlights of the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, from the big winners to the big surprises and even the big losers. We've got you covered.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Four hours went by like that -- 3:59. Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center. She's going to take it away. Hello, Daryn.

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